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From left, Cesar Cornier, Clare Buchanan and Khadijah Ameen gather in Experimental Station in Chicago in January 2019 for the filming of the documentary “Divided We Fall: Unity Without Tragedy.” The PBS film, co-created by Tom Cosgrove, founder of Boulder-based nonprofit New Voice Strategies, features people with opposing political viewpoints engaging in civil discourse. (Mark Ostow/ Courtesy photo)

From Left, co-creator of the documentary “Divided We Fall: Unity Without Tragedy,” Tom Cosgrove talks with documentary participant Ernest Crim at Experimental Station in Chicago in January 2019. (Mark Ostow/ Courtesy photo)

Spotlighting both GenXers and millennials on the left and right, the film, co-created by Larry Andersen, gives an honest and eye-opening look at individuals stepping out from beyond the keyboard in an attempt to come to an understanding — or to simply see another’s perspective. We caught up with Cosgrove to discuss the inspiration behind the project, the feedback it has received and why it is key viewing for where we find ourselves currently.

Daily Camera: I really love that you have joined together with folks from different ends of the political spectrum and fostered thoughtful and civil conversations. What inspired you to want to make this film?

Tom Cosgrove: In August of 2016, I was working with my co-creator Larry Andersen, a Boston-based videographer, on a smartphone app for Boston University called “INVOLVD: Democracy is a not a spectator sport. Get INVOLVD!” We got into a conversation about the damage reality show television was doing to our culture and our politics. The more we talked, the more we thought we should do something about it. Two weeks later, Larry and I had conceived a new show — “Divided We Fall” — and an idea about how to push back against what the conservative Arthur C. Brooks describes as, the “culture of contempt” that is “tearing us apart.”

We learned that reality shows are marketed in the television industry as “unscripted programming,” but in fact the producers of reality shows script and film moments that often showed Americans to be selfish, greedy, fearful, petty, jealous and divisive. Two years later, after recruiting dozens of advisors, we had developed a “conversation choreography” that was the antithesis to “unscripted programming.”

We tested it when we filmed our first cast — a dozen GenX strangers equally divided over Trump. Over the course of a weekend — from 3 p.m. Friday to 3 p.m. Sunday — they wrestled with what it means to be an American, the divides separating us and how we can bridge those gaps. We witnessed that despite real and profound ideological divisions, our group of strangers wanted to bridge their divides and connect with each other.

We knew our experiment worked when by noon on Sunday the cast had already organized a reunion on Cape Cod to be held three weeks later. Eight of the 12 members attended the get-together, which we also filmed.

From left, Jeff Avery, Bill Dwyer, Diann Baylis, Heather Howard, Rob Forde and Amanda Balagur engage in conversation at Double Edge Theatre in Ashfield, Mass., in Sept 2018. The group, consisting of people with different political viewpoints, came together for the filming of the documentary “Divided We Fall: Unity Without Tragedy” created by Tom Cosgrove and Larry Andersen. (Mark Ostow/ Courtesy photo)

DC: What do you think viewers will be most surprised to see take place on screen?

TC: Both viewers on the left and right, despite it being hard to watch certain moments, will see how our cast started to listen to each other with curiosity, not animosity. If they watch to the end they will witness how these individuals connected with each other across their political divides.

DC: Do you think social media makes it easier for people to shut folks down faster and engage in online fighting?

TC: Absolutely. JJ Keefe, a Trump supporter, and Jeff Avery, a Trump resister, in the GenX cast, said it best.

JJ Keefe: “Where do I see all this name calling and disrespect happening? My answer is social media.”

JJ Keefe: “So many internet tough guys, people who couldn’t fight their way out of (a) wet paper bag, online are the most disrespectful, they think they are the toughest in the world.”

DC: I know Rocky Mountain PBS premiered the documentary last month and on May 20 American Public Television will release the film to 140 PBS member stations covering 90% of U.S. television households. What has the response been like from viewers that have already seen it?

TC: Brad Haug, the programming manager at RMPBS, wrote to us the day after our Colorado premier that “the positive feedback was still rolling in from last night.”

He shared that for a stand-alone show we had a great audience as we finished — in audience numbers — just behind the episode of Ken Burns’ “Roosevelts: An Intimate History” that night. We’ve also had tremendous feedback (with) Gov. Polis and Sen. Gardner and Bennet promoting the show on their social media sites. The feedback is not limited to Colorado. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wrote a letter after the premier to every public television station in his state urging them to air “Divided We Fall” this summer.

DC: Why do you feel this project is especially poignant right now, when we find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic?

TC: We witnessed that when people put their humanity before their politics they choose unity. Our advisor Jennifer Richeson, Yale psychology professor and brand new member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, said it best about why “Divided We Fall” is so important: “The need for us to recognize our common humanity could not be any more clear. The challenges we currently face and those to come in the wake of this pandemic require us to expand our circle of concern beyond our families, local communities and, certainly, our political affiliations.”

Heather Howard, center, a participant in the documentary “Divided We Fall: United Without Tragedy” sits with other participants and crew members at Double Edge Theatre in Ashfield, Mass., in September 2018. (Mark Ostow/ Courtesy photo)

DC: Lastly, does New Voice Strategies have plans to offer a virtual screening with a Q&A session from crew in the coming weeks?

TC: Most local public television stations will start broadcasting “Divided We Fall” in July … As we learn the dates in larger markets we will work to organize a Zoom cast talk-back post show, just as we did here in Colorado. We will be posting dates for those events on our website, dividedwefalltv.org. For the rest of this month audiences can still watch it online.